There are many deadly and dreadful diseases that could gradually kill us. However, there are a few silent killers that could take away your life without any warnings. Heart Attack is one of the deadliest diseases and a number one killer. Shortness of breath, heavy sweating, imbalance, holding the chest, etc make us realize that it could be a heart attack! These activities are commonly seen in movies and televisions. Heart attack is a lot more complicated than this. It is in fact a silent killer. A heart attack hits two individuals every minute! Lack of knowledge or ignorance is the major culprit where people become victims of heart attack. Heart attack can strike anyone, even a healthy and happy individual! Learning about the warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack together with first aid tips could save a life!
Warning signs and heart attack symptoms you should not ignore
Chest Pain:
Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack! Shocking and twisting pain the chest, squeezing sensation of chest, heaviness with tingling pain, etc are may be the sign of heart attack. However, not every individual who experience an attack may suffer from chest pain. The pain occurs in the little right to the middle of the left side chest.
Chest discomfort:
Mild pain in the chest is often ignored. Especially, women find it very usual. You may experience a heavy object placed in your left chest, affecting the breathing. The discomfort is often experienced in the upper part of the body.
Pain spreading to other parts of the body:
Since the blood flow to the body is disrupted due to heart failure, the pain aggravates to other parts of the body. Especially, heart attack survivors mostly experienced pain aggravating to shoulders and arms. Even in case of mild chest pain or discomfort, pinching pain in the arms, shoulders, neck, and elbows appears in case of an attack.
Shortness of breath
One of the sure heart attack symptoms! When the heart fails to function properly, it affects lungs and subsequently breathing.
Other heart attack symptoms include,
- Excessive sweating and sweating out in cold;
- Fainting or lack of balance;
- Irregular heartbeat.
Varying Degrees of Heart attack symptoms
Remember, not all heart attacks, where it is mild or moderate or extremely severe strikes with a sharp sudden chest pain! Fortunately, most people experienced mild and silent attacks, the first time without any knowledge they survived an attack. There are hundreds of people who passed away in a silent attack and even in their sleep! Symptoms of a heart attack may vary!
- The most common symptom of a heart attack is chest pain with discomfort in breathing.
- Heart attack symptoms need not be sudden or aggravating. It may be very mild, gradually and cause moderate discomfort with pain. Pain or discomfort may suddenly disappear or reduce and vice versa.
- Diabetics may find it hard to detect the symptoms as in most cases they do not experience any symptoms or develop very mild ones.
- The heart attack symptoms vary in men and women. Women are more likely to experience more discomforts in form of shoulder pain, nausea, vomiting, etc for a few days before the attack.
Handling the heart attack symptoms
When the person is breathing,
- Make the person lie on a flat floor with a small cushion to support the head;
- Loose the tight clothing around the chest and waist.
When the patient is not breathing do the above and try artificial breathing by blowing oxygen to the lungs by mouth. Lift the chin of the person and close the nostrils gently to prevent leakage of the air, and blow oxygen through mouth. Try it for three or four times.
Press the chest area with the palm and give sufficient pressure to pump out the blood from the heart.
Immediately call an emergency service to carry the patient to the nearby healthcare center. Make sure to bring all your body weight to your hands and press the chest will full pressure. Don’t do these two actions simultaneously.
As soon as you realize that you had a heart attack or someone is suffering from a heart attack, chew an aspirin immediately (as long as the there is no allergy to aspirin).
Leave a Reply